Jon boat tips

[Seanstone]

Any one ever actually tried to carry a boat over shallow riffles? I think fully loaded where looking at around 350lbs. That's boat, batteries, motor, anchor, food, bait, etc. If there were two of me I probably wouldn't think much about it, but Amanda and Rylan are pretty small people. Just wondering if anyones ever tried to carry a jon boat, and if so how far and how much did it weigh.

I probably won't fish the shallow waters with Amanda by the way. So she won't actually have to carry it. Just for clarification.

I don't doubt that rylan will do it, or that he is capable. Just don't wanna push him too far and end up stranded with one less friend. Lol

[bassmassey]

i've went way up lake oconee on the appalachee river side where the river(size of an ohio creek) hit the lake and had to walk quite a ways through a mudflat......the channel was silted in and it was 1' deep for probably 1,000 yards till i got up in the actual river..............but never actually had to drag it across dry land, that sounds kinda rough.....

[Seanstone]

Jan 16, 2012 21:01:48 GMT -5 bassmassey said:

how wide is the beam??

Measured the widest part at the middle bench seat at 56 inches. Quite a bit wider than I had thought, should be good and stable.

[banksidebandit]

I know it's a pretty late response Sean but I'm new to the site. We fish shallow parts of the Scioto and have to get out in the water and pull/push the boat up through shallow rapids. Our boat is fiberglass so carrying isn't an option. Chest high waders should work good if you got them. Also, I wouldn't recommend attempting to pull up the motor and drift back down through the shallows. We've hit a few log jams pretty hard by being lazy and trying this.

[Seanstone]

No problem. We have yet to get it out on the steam we want to try yet, waters too cold if we have to wade.

We have took it in some pretty hairy spots just to test it though. We took the boat up on a shallow flat and got it stuck in 8" of water. The fish finder was reading 3" before the trolling motor caught. We took our rods and pushed ourselfs out. The boat sits in about 4" without motor down, 12" with outboard.(With every thing in it) Its a shallow drive outboard and it doesn't lock into place.....Its air cooled, so when I hit something it kicks up on its own. I have already drifted through a bunch of under water stumps and hit a few, it just kicks up and keeps on going. LOL

Honestly I couldn't be happier with the boat. For knowing what I did when I bought it, I did very well. Guess I got lucky.

[banksidebandit]

Yeah having an air cooled outboard makes your trips limitless. Every time I start to hit bottom I have to kill the motor and then lift and lock it up in place. Then before you realize it you can be caught drifting downstream in a hurry. And as soon as we get into deeper water I gotta unlock the motor, drop it into the water, put it in neutral, pull start it, and then throw it into drive...all as fast as possible before we hit a log jam. It can get pretty intense sometimes.

When my motor is in drive it doesn't lock either so that's good for when I hit submerged logs. Sounds like you hit the jackpot though on that boat. I got my boat and trailer for $100 and it looks like it. I will take pics and post them in the Show Your Ride forum here soon. It should get a few laughs but it does the job.

[Seanstone]

You hit the jackpot if you got a boat and trailer for $100....especially if it floats. LOL. I bought mine for $550, and invested a solid $900 in it with rod holders, batteries, lights, anchors, life jackets, oars, new trolling motor, etc.
If it gets the job done, that's all that matters.